December (Plus 2024) Roundup
Happy New Year’s Eve! 2024 certainly was a year, and 2025 will be another. Hope you’ve all had a happy holiday period. I’ll start this with some seasonal photos then launch into December chronologically and writing updates before looking back over the year as a whole. Then we’ll finish with the usual This month’s books. Sounds good?
As you can see, we used to get the annual Christmas Lego. This year, all went on display before we thin out!
The month started as it meant to go on, with an incredible art exhibition at Tate Modern, Electric Dreams, filled with so many interesting pre-internet installations and ideas. One of favourite’s, and mist photogenic, was Otto Piene’s Light Room, which was like stepping into a beautifully designed starfield.
Alongside all those pinpricks there was a globe and disc, rotating with a lamp behind to make many moving patterns, as well as other lit cube things and more abstract light forms. Below’s another great room - Carlos Cruz-Diez’s Chromointerferent Environment.
There were many more amazing machines, sculptures, printed artworks, poetry, films, etc., finishing with an interactive filtered camera/screen/projector installation based on the Narcissus myth, which leads nicely to what came later that day. (Seasons & Narcissus is a song from Bastille’s Dan Smith’s Ampersand project, which you’ve already heard about in past months.)
In Bush Hall, Dan and Muses: An Ampersand Podcast co-host Emma Nagouse, recorded the live podcast finale, talking about a song from the album but also about the craft and ethics of storytelling as a whole, which was very interesting to me, never mind a live performance from Dan and BIM, and being the first in the world to hear another album worth of Dan’s demos - ‘homework’ songs from the podcast about other historical figures. You can listen to an edited-down version of the evening on your preferred platform. There’s a history quiz too!
The next day, I was on the train again, to Bellingham, for my first day filming (only a few hours in my case) for a film project done by students at Greenwich Uni. I got involved as they’re making a music video for twenty one pilot’s Redecorate. (Here’s the project’s Instagram account!) It was great to meet and work with a group of people my age with similar interests. The real fun came two days later though…
When they came to my house for a full 9-5 day’s filming!
We’ll see if I can share the film when it’s done, but it was fantastic collaborating with them for a day. They brought two big lights, a massive camera (and the monitor above), plenty of props to dirty up my room. It was a great time all round. I hadn’t acted since plays at school (well, and my one day as an extra…), but apparently I did a good job. The harder shots were singing along to the chorus, and the one-take shot when the black paint you see above finds its way onto my neck… that’s all I’ll say.
The next day it was up to London again for a comic launch event - this being Volume 3 of Emma Vieceli’s Breaks. I got the second ever signed copy, some exclusive stickers and sweets, and seeing some familiar faces (those that managed to avoid all the weather delays that day) from conventions was great. Then, while I was ‘up there’, I headed to Pullens Open Studios.
I had a look around all the lovely craftspeople’s studios in the nearby yards, but specifically popped in here:
This was the very studio Dan Smith visited a year ago before (and apparently I only missed him by an hour!), when he popped in on an open day and asked the owner, Theo Hersey if he takes commissions. This of course led to the incredible Ampersand album cover.
I had a lovely chat with Theo, saw one of the original woodblocks, and he let me look through so many test printings and variant designs (and I may have purchased a couple one-of-a-kind prints…).
Then I had the next morning to get a few things done (I’m just now remembering how busy this month was!), before seeing Dan Smith, joined by Charlie Barnes and Moira Mack to play at Resident record store in Brighton, which was a fantastic experience.
Front row there meant I could see every aspect of their playing, all the wires, Charlie’s foot pedals, Dan’s keyboard playing, all the guitars… And actually being able to see the backing vocalists sing was great, compared to Shepherd’s Bush.
When Dan mentioned the podcast between songs, I got to show off my live recording exclusive T-shirt, met by a whoop from Moira when she saw it then a shout-out from Dan, which was pretty special.
Believe it or not, I saw the same three musicians, joined by Bolt Strings, in the Royal Albert Hall, for the Streets of London charity concert which we booked before any in-store events were announced.
A pretty good view! There were so many more talented artists on stage before Bastille: Passenger, Freya Ridings, Jake Bugg, Ralph McTell and some great young singers doing the titular song, Birdy, James Bay (who got everyone standing with Step Into Christmas). It was worth the long intervals (and the worry about making the train home!) to witness brilliant Ampersand songs in that venue. Even more magical was the ‘Amperband’s’ version of Oh Holy Night, and then the big hit Pompeii, looking around the whole space, seeing everyone singing, so many dazzling lights and sparkling disco ball reflections…
A short sleep later, I was back on a train to London (!), to go to a special signing at Forbidden Planet with many of the creators of the relaunch of Battle Action comics. I was there specially though to see the very-kind Torunn Grønbekk (more on that in the month’s books section at the end).
After leaving the store with a heavier bag, I visited the British Museum for its last hour, just for another look at some things - and every time I’m there, I notice something new! Then it was time to head to Rough Trade East.
(It was a mirror to my first Bastille signing there last year, after which I visited the British Museum for my first time as an adult.)
Anyway, it was an incredible event, more than the advertised ‘In Conversation’, and actually a fascinating power point (really!), on The Visual Story.
It was such a inspiring evening, just hearing everyone’s passions and skills, and how collaboration birthed the incredible package the music came in. It was great seeing Harriet again after October’s events, and hear her and Theo talk much more about their process and impact. Plus, I actually made friends in the queue/crowd, and got to talk to Beau afterwards, who trusted me with more info about an event in two days’ time…
I was off to Margate! The whole world-touring Amperband was there, along with the familiar managerial faces I’d met at previous events - plus a whole German film crew! The producer explained everything to us over email and in person. You’ll probably see me on international TV (ARTE) as klangmalerei.tv are making a programme all about the & album, with a multicamera concert in Margate’s Turner Contemporary (for which I was front row!), plus bts footage and interviews which I can’t wait to see.
It was such a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. And being so close to all ten musicians bringing the songs to life was an incredible way to end this three-month era of events related to the album, which means so much to me as a storyteller and fan now of the twenty-odd people I’ve met/seen that were involved - they’re all so nice.
This photo with co-writer, guitar player and backing vocalist and amazing musician in his own right, Charlie Barnes, proves this I think. Here’s his latest album, The Heart of the Home, for a listen. I also had a chance to talk to AK Patterson and Beau some more before we were ushered out.
And in the dark on the journey home, with the night’s setlist, the last ever setlist of a show with all those musicians together, performing this ‘side project’ of Bastille’s Dan Smith, I realised how sad I was it was coming to a close. Having seen them so much over a two-month timespan and online, listening to every contributor’s music, it was a little like saying goodbye to friends.
But then some of my new friends came around again to film pick-up shots, including two more attempts of that one-take shot (using many wet wipes and soap in the process).
The Crimbo decorations were already up at that point. So then it was time to fully relax into the holiday spirit.
Writing Update
The holiday spirit included taking some time not to be constantly ‘on’, either out or working on writing in some form. But some forms of writing are relaxing.
Vlogger Beat (that’s a link to all my articles) proved a great source of joy this month. I covered jacksepticeye’s charity stream/live show Thankmas (or rather, tried to spread the word before it began), and finished the month a few days ago writing a piece in praise of DanTDM, the YouTuber who very kindly allowed me to self-publish my books which sprouted into my whole Diamond Dimensions Universe.
The real highlight was carrying out my first ever interview. I was a bit nervous, sending questions to my editor on the site but she had nothing to change! Then Alejandro Arbona, who’s working with jacksepticeye and Bad Egg on the Void Silver series of ALTRVERSE comics, was so kind and gave such fantastic answers. It was very special not just interviewing my first writing professional, but as a fan of the series, being able to get an insight into the process behind it, things never told anywhere else other than my interview, was wonderful.
I’m very excited with what the new year will bring, as our small site continues to grow!
Expect some longer piece of writing sometime in the future now I know I can talk about my time on set of Gladiator II! Well, one day on location and one day at a studio…
But for now I celebrate being the first featured story on the yearly celebration blog of Extra People - the incredible community who gave me this opportunity. They cut down my submission slightly, but you can read many more incredible experiences fellow SAs have had here!
Another fantastic thing this month was video calling Genevieve von Petzinger! We got her answers out of the way… but also talked much more about our mutual cave art passion, and she told me many incredible off the record things in development.
I also submitted another short story and two poems this month. One was my first go at speculative poetry, which is something I ashamedly only really learnt/thought about recently. Great fun! You’ll be first to know if anything comes of them. Plus I’ve continued working on something I haven’t really talked about (I’m lead writer on an indie video game coming to Steam next year!).
Highlights continued coming, as I was humbled for my newsletter, A Long Time Ago…, to be included on P.A. Cornell’s list of all her publications and acceptances on her newsletter’s 2024 recap, alongside so many great magazines and anthologies. Go and check out all of her fantastic accomplishments!
I was also named on Pedro Iniguez’s end-of-year roundup! Pedro’s roundup inspired the one I shared on socials, re-worked into the longer version you’ll read later! The above mentions, and getting congratulations from friends, and Star Wars author Zoraida Córdova, were really heart-warming. It’s very nice to know I’ve made connections and an impact in the writing community this year. Actually feeling a part of a community this year has been a major highlight, and a dream come true.
This happened last month, but I never included Marc Guggenheim’s lovely mention after he answered my question on his newsletter.
Harvey has a great newsletter with a lot of Star Wars content. You can check it out here.
Thanks again for that Marc!
Speaking of Pedro, and P.A. especially though, it was another great month for A Long Time Ago… In fact, P.A. recently visited the site she wrote about! Eric A. Clayton provided some fantastic photos for his entry too, an added bonus for which I was very grateful.
The great variance in writer and favourite Star Wars story and historical site picks continues! And I’m so glad for every contributor. In case you missed this month’s:
The offer still goes out to anyone reading this, if you like the format and would like to contribute, please get in touch! I’ve had so many continued fantastic contributions this month, five in total! It’s been wonderful.
Year in Review
This is a segment inspired by Marc Guggenheim’s most recent newsletter. In fact, I lifted the format 1:1, apart from the fact that I included more than just writing projects, and without any codenames…
I’ve never done one of these before, but it’s important to celebrate success, whilst recognising there were major parts of my year which don’t make a list like this. This has been my first year really going for opportunities that come my way, and I’m grateful for everyone that’s supported and given me chances, the results that have come from that, and the work younger, isolated, unhappy me put in. 2024 was special. Thank you. Here we go then:
JANUARY
Travelled around Scotland with a friend, Glasgow to Fort William to Inverness to Lewis to Elgin to Edinburgh, with a few extra spots in between
Started this monthly roundup trend
FEBRUARY
Educated myself in comics, thanks to Jim Zub and Matt Garvey (this was ongoing into May, and still is!)
Video called my quotable expert (for Star Wars Insider) archaeologist and rock art specialist George Nash
Barrier at a concert for the first time, starting with To Kill a King at the start of the month and Poppy at the end
MARCH
Made the longlist for Adventure in Fiction’s Spotlight First Novel Award
Wrote my first comic script, a 24-page first issue
APRIL
Became an ‘Award-winning TV Script writer of Sci-fi’ with my pilot The Watchers thanks to TSL’s contest on Coverfly
Started a brand-new segment on my newsletter, exploring my love for Star Wars books and comics, arranged in chronological order on my shelves, and ancient sites which have inspired my writing: A Long Time Ago...
Became an English Heritage volunteer (technically my interview was in March, but my training day was this month, followed by spending lovely days at North Leigh Roman Villa in Oxfordshire with my fellow volunteers and the public in June, July, August and September)
MAY
Was the first Artist Spotlight on Meet Artist Hub, on May the Fourth
Met twenty one pilots at HMV Oxford Street
Saw four great French cities, over two weeks: Nimes, Avignon, Marseilles, Arles
Went to my third MCM comic con, which was a great one, my first convention actually seeing friendly faces for the first time (meeting people I’d met at previous ones, like Matt Garvey and Sebastien de Castell)
JUNE
Had my traditional publishing debut – an article, ART WARS, in issue #266 of the official global Star Wars Insider magazine
Visited Shepperton Studios and had a day on set as an extra (Roman soldier) on Gladiator II
Set up a linktree
Wrote my first 8-page comic script for an anthology open call…
JULY
Attended my first London Film and Comic Con for a while, meeting people like Paul Cornell and Mark Newbold for the first time
Redrafted my first full-length novel and its query and received my first full manuscript request
Received a commendation and later a certificate from the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation’s Adventure Writing Prize Author of Tomorrow award for my short story Ancestral Ties, my first award and feedback for my writing
Joined the Vlogger Beat team, contributing ten articles this year
AUGUST
REX & ROLL, my second Star Wars Insider article, was released in #227, this time making the cover and being the basis of the foil variant cover!
Had business cards made
Attended my first Worldcon, and longest stay away by myself, in Glasgow. What a busy five days that was
Video called Win Scutt, an archaeologist and Senior Properties Curator for English Heritage, to talk through one of my short stories/comic scripts
SEPTEMBER
Wrote my first short story of the year, outside of my main universes, for a press’s anthology
Revisited my favourite place, and important location in my fiction, the Isles of Scilly, meeting the local archaeologist and working with her (research for future books!) over the rest of the month over email
Spent two weeks working as an air source heat pump installer/plumber with my friend, over three sites but mostly re-fitting a house over seven days
OCTOBER
Saw my writing on a shop shelf for the first time – Star Wars Insider in Forbidden Planet. This was especially nice as REX & ROLL made the cover
Continued A Long Time Ago… by inviting guests onto the newsletter, talking about their favourite Star Wars story and favourite historical site. This has featured so many great writers I admire, with many more varied guests already lined up into March
Was made Lead Writer on The Diamond Adventures, an indie DanTDM fangame coming to Steam next year!
Met James Blunt at HMV Oxford Street
Visited the EH archaeology store near Bristol, a fascinating day but a great weekend away in the city too
MCM again, seeing so many familiar faces, great new ones, meeting Jim Zub in person, Emily Rose and getting loads of exclusive things to do with the upcoming The Electric State
Starting here and going on until mid-December (which you’ll have read about above so I won’t mention here), I attended eight/nine events around the release of Bastille Presents Ampersand, meeting many of the incredible contributors from management to musicians to artists. I now own two pieces of original art each from Harriet Bruce and Theo Hersey and met Dan Smith twice, Emma Nagouse, Charlie Barnes and AK Patterson
NOVEMBER
Released my 30th(!) book, and my first in three years, with a way-too-long title, The Diamond Dimensions: Volume 4.5: Tales from the Void: Anniversary Edition, with a brand-new essay and other bonuses celebrating ten years since I met DanTDM, whose worlds and characters my multiverse is based on
Wrote two more short stories, one my first foray into horror, for anthologies
Attended my first Thought Bubble, a fantastic weekend of comics, where I had my first two portfolio reviews, again so many familiar and new faces, seeing a lot of Kieron Gillen, James Tynion IV and Chip Zdarsky
Wrote a 10-page comic script, my first set in someone else’s universe
Had my last barrier concert experience of the year, The Script at the O2
DECEMBER
Carried out my first interview for Vlogger Beat, over email, with Alejandro Arbona, writer of jacksepticeye’s Void Silver comics
Wrote another horror short story and my first speculative poem
Hit eighty subscribers on my newsletter
Had a mini write-up of my extra work featured on Extra People’s blog
Acted in a music video for twenty one pilot’s Redecorate for a Greenwich Uni film project
Video called Genevieve von Petzinger, archaeologist and geometric signs specialist
Worked with an international film crew for their Bastille’s Ampersand event in Margate (I’ll be on international (ARTE) TV!)
This month's books
This segment showcases the new additions to my research and fiction collections.
The usual delivery of Star Wars comics brought the adaptation of the incredible episode 5 of Ahsoka, as well as the conclusion of the first four-parter in The Battle of Jakku series, and the first two in the second four-parter, set a year after Return of the Jedi.
Here are four fantastic single issues, all signed and given to me as gifts from wonderful writer Torunn Grønbekk. It turns out there are many benefits to subscribing to newsletters. Here’s Torunn’s newsletter for potential future giveaways, and just to learn about her great series.
After being selected for the Carnage issue 1 (which got returned to Torunn by international post), she threw in one of the variant Catwoman issue 69s she was giving away - the very special 1:50 incentive cover. Then when we found out we could meet in person, we waited for that and she threw in the other two issues. All fantastic beginnings to stories, and a great education for how to write a perfect first issue, across varied subjects. And she was great to chat to about comics, newsletters and Star Wars!
I’ll limit the commentary on my Christmas book haul. Some highlights from this stack are the signed David Harewood autobiography, the M.R. James stories which’ll hopefully be inspiring for my short fiction, and Lili Hayward’s A Midwinter’s Tail - Christmas, cats, the Isles of Scilly and some folklore, a perfect combination.
My Star Wars Skywalker Saga book collection is almost complete with those film adaptations. I’m excited to dive into Carrie Fisher’s thoughts on filming the films, and there’s some more great research books there. The Antonine Wall was a great surprise gift, which will be very useful for novel #4, as I was inspired by many artefacts from the wall in Scotland. And there’s incredible rock art in that little book which I’ve never seen!
My Star Wars Skywalker Saga comics collection is almost complete, especially with some of those rarer IDW Adventures ones. The real highlight here will be Ethan and Naomi Sack’s A Haunted Girl. I’d heard about the series from the father of the duo, plus his publisher/editor’s newsletter. Then in October I joined a fantastic zoom call with the joint writers, exploring the process of channelling Naomi’s real life mental health journey into the horror story of the comic.
I’m very grateful for all these gifts.
And that's the end of this month’s roundup, this year’s roundup, and the year that was 2024. Thank you so much to everyone whose spent precious moments of this year reading my words (especially if you read everything - actually, skimming’s cool too). Please share with your friends and family and ask them to subscribe - that would mean the world to me. (Maybe I’ll make 100 subs on this list a goal for next year!) I do love sharing my various exploits with you all, and would treasure having more people with me on my writing (and life) journey.
I treasure you all.
Cheers,
Harvey